Solved stalls when return to idle

I've been so busy with school and stuff that it wasn't until yesterday
that I finally was able to pull the carburetor from the Wonderbus to do
what everyone has urged me to do to solve the problem. Reminder: engine
would intermittently and unpredictably die during return to idle.
Sometimes it would, sometimes it would not. Ignition tested fine, fuel
pressure fine. Engine would always start right back up. Blowing out idle
jet did not help.

Pull the carb, they said, check the bowl, blow out what you can. Jan was
starting to get cranky that I wasn't getting around to it. I'm slow, okay?

So. Pulled the carb (34 PICT), removed the top, yanked the float and
blew out everything that was blowable. There was a dusting of swarf in
the bottom of the bowl but otherwise everything looked fine.

Noticed that the automatic cutoff solenoid was loose, not
fully-tightened. A bit rattly, in fact. Tightened it. Possible cause of
problem?

Re-assembled, re-installed.

ROOKIE NOTE: make certain the float floats easily. Sign of float not
floating up is gasoline oozing out of nearly every crack and crevice in
carb. And, of course, remarkably rich running.

Re-removed carb and studied situation. One corner of float drags against
inside of bowl. Was it like that before? I did reassemble it exactly as
before . . . so for the safe of smooth operation I filed a little off
the corners of the float. Now it clears the inside of the bowl neatly.

Re-assembled and re-installed again. Faultless operation.

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions and test procedures. I now
know a little more about carbs.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR